“THEY’RE
STOPPING THE BALL, LEADING THE DEFENSE, ALL THOSE TYPES OF THINGS. THE ONE THING THAT HAS BEEN VERY, VERY CONSISTENT IS THE GOALIES HAVE BEEN VERY,
VERY GOOD.” — Team USA coach Richie Meade
“It’s hard to do a game situation when you train. I have an advantage because I coach [at Providence] and have skilled players that I can jump into drills with,” Galloway said. “But for goalies, you really need people out there that you can get that velocity that you’ll see in the cage at the world games. Strength- wise, coach [Jay] Dyer has us as good as I’ve ever felt in my career, but at the end of the day, MLL scenarios and reactions, you can’t see that sort of thing any other way than in a live game.”
All three should get plenty of live reps with their respective teams in the summer. Schwartzman has been the full-time starter for Denver since 2008 and is the reigning MLL goalie of the year for last year’s semifi nalists. Adams has started each of the past four seasons for the Lizards, while Galloway has been the primary stopper for Rochester since 2011.
Their U.S. predecessor, however, cautions that MLL play, even with many Canadians on the eight pro rosters, won’t completely replicate the experience of playing a group of Team USA’s biggest rivals in Denver. “Even when you play a lot of those guys when they’re on the same roster like you had with the [Hamilton] Nationals, it’s not even close. That’s not Team Canada,” said Dougherty, referring to MLL’s most concentrated Canadian roster, which also featured several Iroquois standouts before dispersing after the team relocated to Florida as the Launch for the 2014 season. “If you get a chance to play [against Canada], it’s unlike anything you’ve ever done in your life. The way they play lacrosse when they’re all on the fi eld together is just different,” he said. “You may have seen the shots they can take or the behind-the-backs or whatever, but not all of them on the fi eld at the same time.”
Be that as it may, it’s clear that any one of the three would be a solid choice to stand between the pipes come July 10 and beyond as they enter the stretch run of the great goalie battle, neck-and-neck for the photo fi nish.
Even as competitors, they understand and appreciate each other’s strengths. “With Adams, he’s a lefty, so that’s a bit of an advantage, and you really have to make a great shot to beat him,” Schwartzman said.
“John is a real student of the game,” Adams said. “He’s a coach, so he understands the philosophy, and he’s such a good communicator.” “With Jesse, the control that he has of the defense and his demeanor regardless of what’s going on, he has such confi dence,” Galloway said. “Especially when you think of this team as a bunch of guys who don’t have a lot of chances to play together.” As for Doc’s opinion?
“They’re all winners. They play good lacrosse and know how to get themselves ready,” Dougherty said. “All of them will know how to lead the team out there. That’s what these guys are good at.”
They’ll be ready for whatever the world has to throw at them. LM
ECK’S FACTOR
There’s no faceoff controversy. It’s Chris Eck.
Chris Eck is the only faceoff man on Team USA’s current 30-man roster.
Eck not only has battled tough faceoff foes throughout his seven-year MLL career with the Boston Cannons, but also has endured a physical pounding as a pro and in college at Colgate. He tore his ACL on his fi rst day of practice at Colgate, then was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes a month later. Eck checks his blood sugar regularly before he plays, practices or works out, and can been seen doing it during games on the sideline. Since his freshman year at Colgate, Eck has had fi ve more surgeries on his knees and feet. He missed the cut from the 2010 Team USA squad that won gold in England. Not until February, when Eck was selected as the U.S.’s only pure faceoff man after a second round of cuts, did he fi nally stop wearing a pair of mesh shorts from the 2010 tryouts, which he had put on for bed every night as a reminder of what he missed, and what his goal was for 2014. “You get to represent your country in the sport that you love, with the best players on the planet,” Eck said. “Anytime you have those letters on your chest it has a special feeling.”
— Corey McLaughlin
Drew Adams is a protégé of Hall of Famer Brian Dougherty, the brash goalie who retired after leading the U.S. to a gold medal in 2010.
A Publication of US Lacrosse 24 CHRIS ECK
PRO TEAM: Cannons COLLEGE: Colgate ‘08 HIGH SCHOOL: Fairfi eld (Conn.) HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-foot, 215 AGE: 29 TWITTER: @ChrisEck24 DAY JOB: MBA student, Duke Fuqua School of Business (will start at Google in September); Owner, Eck’s Factor Lacrosse
June 2014 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 47
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